South Africa whitewash Equatorial Guinea 7-1

South Africa moved within sight of a place at the semis after a 7-1 thumping of Equatorial Guinea in their Group B clash on Wednesday in Cape Coast.

Two goals and two assists from Woman of the match, Chrestinah Kgatlana inspired the Banyana Banyana to keep their 100 per cent run intact.

Linda Motlhalo scored from the spot to give South Africa the lead in the 20th minute after Dorine Chuigoue handled the ball inside the box.

Nompumelelo Nyandeni added the second two minutes later after connecting a pass from Kgatlana.

Equatorial Guinea responded on the stroke of halftime when Elena Obono Oyana capitalized on a mistake in the South African defence to score.

Banyana Banyana increased their advantage in the 56th minute through substitute Refiloe Jane who tapped in an easy pass from Kgatlana.

Kgatlana completed her brace three minutes later to increase the tally after rounding off the goalkeeper in both goals.

Amanda Mthandi and Jermaine Seoposenwe inflicted more pain on the Equatoguineans by getting their names on the score sheet in the 76th and 79th minutes.

Banyana Banyana lead the pack with six points with Nigeria and Zambia trailing on three points each and Equatorial Guinea at the bottom pointless.

Total Woman of the Match: Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana

Reactions

Desiree Ellis (Head Coach, South Africa)

I thought we were really losing in the first half. They panicked at times and never stacked to what we are through and that’s keeping the ball on the ground. We went two up and conceded really silly, lost the ball further up the field.

We have enough quality in the team to do better. We had a bit of talking in the dressing room and came out really fired up because we need to realize that to reach the mission of qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup you cannot underestimate anyone.

We realized that if we put the ball on the ground and rotate it quick and move off the ball we would play much better and would also move them around and create opportunities and that’s when the goals came.

We are happy with the result but the performance can be way better. Equatorial Guinea gave us a tough match especially in the first half.

Jean-Paul Mpila (Head Coach, Equatorial Guinea)

Firstly, I will congratulate the South African coach for this victory. My impression about the game is good because four days to prepare for a tournament was not enough for us but we did our best.

I must say this game has actually helped me to identify the problems of the team and I will continue to say I am not discouraged.

When I saw the girls play, I was surprised by their performance. I saw that with four days preparations that’s a good work for them.

South Africa is not a small team. They have really worked hard to come this far and looking at Zambia they a young side but had good preparations. My conclusion is that, what I have seen in the tournament will urge me to work more on the team.